SHOULDER TO SHOULDER # ---- 7/31/00
Posted by: lifeunlimited <lifeunlimited@...>
As We fight The Good Fight
SHOULDER TO SHOULDER # ---- 7/31/00
TITLE: "Losing the Battle But Gaining the Victory"
My Dear Partner in the Kingdom Cause:
For the first time since the beginning of my letters in December, 1997, I
seriously considered not writing you. But, in spite of a heavy heart, I
could not do so. The thought of not keeping my weekly appointment with
you was unthinkable. My heart is heavy because this past Thursday
morning at 4:55 A.M., my extraordinary Mother went home to be with the
Lord, losing the battle with the Leukemia which had been discovered
ravaging her body just 12 days earlier. It is giving me a new
appreciation for the idea of losing and winning. For, while she did
certainly lose the battle with Leukemia, she gained a victory that you
and I can only read about, think about, and hope for.
You may think I should have not taken time to write. But, if you knew my
Mother, you'd know she would have never wanted to be the reason for my
failure to try to lift you up and encourage you in your ministry. Being
married to a pastor, having a son who is a pastor, and having two
sons-in-law in vocational ministry, it is clear she understood the
essential need people like us have to be encouraged and spurred on to
good works and faithfulness.
As I write this Sunday night at 11:45 P.M., we have just seen the last of
our relatives head back to their motel rooms following the Family
Visitation at the funeral home. The funeral is Monday at 10:00 A.M.
Just about the time you may be reading this letter, we will be
celebrating my Mother's life, legacy, and coronation.
I can promise you it will be a glorious time as our daughter sings a song
based on my Mother's favorite verse, Isaiah 26:3 ---- "Thou wilt keep him
in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Thee, because he trusteth in
Thee."
Sam Davis will have sung two of Mother's favorite songs, "From Every
Stormy Wind That Blows" and "More Like Jesus Would I Be", and the entire
congregation will conclude with "Blessed Assurance, Jesus Is Mine", and
"I Love To Tell The Story". In my mind I can still hear her sing those
great songs. In her earlier years she had an incredible Welch Soprano
voice, which later became more mezzo soprano.
Very soon I want to share some things with you that God has shown me
about the church through my Mother's struggle with Leukemia and her
subsequent death. I am anxious to do so as soon as possible. I find
some striking and sobering resemblances between her battle and the one
the church is often failing to fight with its own Leukemia.
In the meantime, because it is not clearly developed yet in my mind, and
because my mind is basically jello tonight, I am turning to one of the
hundreds of articles and stories on file that I want to share with you at
some time. Even though it interrupts our little series on the "Two
Trees", I believe this is specifically what God is prompting me to share
with you.
So, enjoy this powerful commentary by the great Charles Spurgeon on the
subject of Revival.
THE KIND OF REVIVAL WE NEED by C.H. Spurgeon
==========================================
It is good for us to draw nigh unto God in prayer. Our minds are
grieved to see so little attention given to united prayer by many
churches.
How can we expect a blessing if we are too idle to ask for it? How can
we look for a Pentecost if we never meet with one another, in one place,
to wait upon the Lord? Brethren, we shall never see much change for the
better in our
churches till the prayer meeting occupies a higher place in the esteem of
Christians.
But now that we have come together, how shall we pray? Let us not
degenerate into formality, or we shall be dead while we think we live.
Let us not waiver through unbelief, or we shall pray in vain. Oh, for
great faith with which to
offer great prayers!
We have been mingling praise and prayer together as a delicious
compound of spices, fit to be presented upon the altar of incense through
Christ our Lord; may we not at this time offer some special far-reaching
petition? It is
suggested to me that we pray for a true and genuine revival of religion
throughout the world.
A Real and Lasting Revival
I am glad of any signs of life, even if they should be feverish and
transient, and I am slow to judge any well intended movement, but I am
very fearful that many so called revivals in the long run wrought more
harm than good. A species of religious gambling has fascinated many men,
and given them a distaste for the sober business of true godliness.
But if I would nail down counterfeits upon the counter, I do not
therefore undervalue true gold. Far from it. It is to be desired beyond
measure that the Lord would send a real and lasting revival of spiritual
life.
We need a work of the Holy Spirit of a supernatural kind, putting
power into the preaching of the Word, inspiring all believers with
heavenly energy, and solemnly affecting the hearts of the careless, so
that they turn to God and live. We would not be drunk with the wine of
carnal excitement, but we would be filled with the Spirit. We would
behold the fire descending from heaven in answer to the effectual fervent
prayers of righteous men. Can we not entreat the Lord our God to make
bare His holy arm in the eyes of all the people in this day of declension
and vanity?
Old-fashioned Doctrine
We want a revival of old-fashioned doctrine. I know not a single
doctrine which is not at this hour studiously undermined by those who
ought to be its defenders. There is not a truth that is precious to the
soul which is not now
denied by those whose profession it is to proclaim it. To me it is clear
that we need a revival of old-fashioned gospel preaching like that of
Whitefield and Wesley.
The Scriptures must be made the infallible foundation of all teaching;
the ruin, redemption and regeneration of mankind must be set forth in
unmistakable terms.
Personal Godliness
Urgently do we need a revival of personal godliness. This is, indeed,
the secret of church prosperity. When individuals fall from their
steadfastness, the church is tossed to and fro; when personal faith is
steadfast, the church
abides true to her Lord.
It is upon the truly godly and spiritual that the future of religion
depends in the hand of God. Oh, for more truly holy men, quickened and
filled with the Holy Spirit, consecrated to the Lord and sanctified by
His truth.
Brethren, we must each one live if the church is to be alive; we must
live unto God if we expect to see the pleasure of the Lord prospering in
our hands. Sanctified men are the salt of society and the saviours of
the race.
Domestic Religion
We deeply want a revival of domestic religion. The Christian family
was the bulwark of godliness in the days of the puritans, but in these
evil times hundreds of families of so-called Christians have no family
worship, no restraint upon growing sons, and no wholesome instruction or
discipline. How can we hope to see the kingdom of our Lord advance when
His own disciples do not teach His gospel to their own children?
Oh, Christian men and women, be thorough in what you do and know and
teach! Let your families be trained in the fear of God and be yourselves
"holiness unto the Lord" so shall you stand like a rock amid the surging
waves of error
and ungodliness which rage around us.
Vigorous, Consecrated Strength
We want also a revival of vigorous, consecrated strength. I have
pleaded for true piety; I now beg for one of the highest results of it.
We need saints. We need gracious minds trained to a high form of
spiritual life by much converse
with God in solitude.
Saints acquire nobility from their constant resort to the place where
the Lord meets with them. There they also acquire that power in prayer
which we so greatly need. Oh, that we had more men like John Knox, whose
prayers were more terrible to Queen Mary than 10,000 men! Oh, that we
had more Elijahs by whose faith the windows of heavens should be shut or
opened!
This power comes not by a sudden effort; it is the outcome of a life
devoted to the God of Israel! If our life is all in public, it will be a
frothy, vapoury ineffectual existence; but if we hold high converse with
God in secret, we shall be mighty for good. He that is a prince with God
will take high rank with men, after the true measure of nobility.
Beware of being a lean-to; endeavour to rest on your own walls of real
faith in the Lord Jesus. May none of us fall into a mean,
poverty-stricken dependence on man! We want among us believers like those
solid, substantial family
mansions which stand from generation to generation as landmarks of the
country; no lath-and-plaster fabrics, but edifices solidly constructed to
bear all weathers, and defy time itself.
Given a host of men who are steadfast, immovable, always abounding in
the work of the Lord, the glory of God's grace will be clearly
manifested, not only in them, but in those round about them. The Lord
send us a revival of
consecrated strength, and heavenly energy!
Preach by your hands if you cannot preach by your tongues. When our
church members show the fruits of true godliness, we shall soon have
inquiries for the tree which bears such a crop.
Oh the coming together of the saints is the first part of Pentecost,
and the ingathering of sinners is the second. It began with "only a
prayer meeting", but it ended with a grand baptism of thousands of
converts. Oh that the
prayers of believers may act as lode stones to sinners! Oh that every
gathering of faithful men might be a lure to attract others to Jesus!
May many souls fly to Him because they see others speeding in that
direction.
"Lord, we turn from these poor foolish procrastinators to thyself, and
we plead for them with thine all-wise and gracious spirit! Lord, turn
them and they shall be turned! By their conversion, pray that a true
revival has commenced tonight! Let it spread through all our households,
and then run from church to church till the whole of Christendom shall be
ablaze with a heaven-descended fire!"
FRANKLY:
These comments, dear friend, actually do speak directly to the issue of
the "Two Trees", don't they. If we were not so content to feast from the
Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, we'd not need revival ---- we'd
be perpetually in it.
So, my prayer for you and me is that at least we'll begin crying out to
God for the fresh fire of revival upon our own lives. Stop worrying
about your ministry ---- begin worrying about your own life, and whether
or not it is a burning flame of the ever-present and all-powerful Spirit
of God.
May this week be a momentous one for you.
Finally, thank you for your prayers in my behalf, and that of my family.
We have much to face in coming weeks, and we continue to cherish your
ongoing intercession in our behalf.
Have a great "Revive Us Again!" week.
In His Bond,
Bob Tolliver ---- (Rom 1:11-12)
Copyright July, 2000. All rights reserved.
We'd love to hear from you. Drop us a note with reports, observations,
prayer requests, etc.
If this letter has blessed you and you know of someone else who needs to
be encouraged, feel free to forward it in its entirety to all such people
you know.
If you would like a list of past issues which you could receive upon
request, just let us know.
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Hang in there! I'm with you!
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